It is being billed as the contest between the will of the British people - and their penchant for underdogs - and a gaggle of out-of-touch talent judges who think they know better. But while the votes have been counted, the jury is still out on who decides the winners on the nation's favourite television 'talent' shows, Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor.

Last night, John Sergeant, the former political correspondent whose stumbling performance on the BBC's celebrity dancing contest failed to impress the judges was, yet again, carried through to the next round on a wave of public support and, perhaps, sympathy.

But while public opinion emerged victorious on BBC1, it was a different story on ITV1's The X Factor, where the 38-year-old pool-cleaner Daniel Evans was finally seen off by a panel of judges who have variously described him as "Ricky Gervais singing karaoke" and "a little bit drunk dad at a wedding".

Sergeant, 68, who has complained that the show's judges are out of sync with the "views of ordinary people", appeared to have been vindicated last night. He and his partner, Kristina Rihanoff, found themselves at the bottom of the score table alongside actor Cherie Lunghi and presenter Lisa Snowdon, and their partners, after their performances the previous evening.

Sergeant received only faint applause from the judges for his American Smooth - the most complimentary remark about him so far came from the judge Arlene Phillips, who called him "quite endearing". She and the other judges gave Sergeant the least points.

But when the judges' scores were combined with viewers' votes, Sergeant and his partner avoided going head-to-head in the dance-off to stay on the show.

In the end it was Lunghi who became the ninth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing after losing out to Snowdon and her partner, Brendan Cole.

"This is supposed to be a dance contest," said Lunghi's aggrieved partner, James Jordan. "Please, please, people at home, vote for the dancing." Evidently there are those who feel that it would be unfair if, through undiscerning mob rule the rotund broadcaster was crowned the nation's best dancer.

The public did have some say in the fortunes of Evans on Saturday night's X Factor, voting him and his fellow contestant, Rachel Hylton, into a "sing-off" reserved for the least popular singers.

But his fate was ultimately sealed by Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell, who ousted Evans almost without the obligatory suspense-inducing hesitation.

"I couldn't honestly picture myself winning the show, and obviously now it's the case," Evans said afterwards. "I'm upset to be out. I was hoping to push on a little bit longer for us older people.

"Maybe I'm not [the judges'] cup of tea. But the public showed for six weeks that they liked me. I do think I had something to offer. The public saw that but the judges didn't. That's the way it goes."

In the contest that television executives care most about - the battle for ratings - the X Factor emerged victorious with an audience of 10.6 million compared with 9.7 million for Strictly Come Dancing.